DPP chairman sets ‘three-four-five’ goal for Cabinet

By Chris Wang / Staff reporter

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said he had high expectations for new Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) and his Cabinet, saying yesterday that Jiang should focus on the economy to improve people’s livelihoods amid the accelerating global economic recovery.

Su said he was pushing a “three-four-five” goal for the Cabinet that was sworn in yesterday, the first working day after the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday.

The “three-four-five” goal entails an annual growth rate in average wages of 3 percent, an unemployment rate of less than 4 percent and a GDP growth rate of more than 5 percent, Su said.

“Jiang and his Cabinet should take advantage of the global recovery, in particular the warming economic climate in some of Taiwan’s major trade partners, Japan, the EU and the US,” the chairman told reporters.

The global economy looks set for a rebound from the European debt crisis because Washington has expressed its intention to seek a free-trade agreement with the EU and Japan appeared to be ready to turn its decade-long economic downturn around, Su said.

The DPP will support the government’s measures to improve the economy, he added.

Turning to the DPP itself, Su said the party’s goal of returning to power in 2016 remained unchanged and said he would do whatever it takes to reach that goal.

“Our grand goal for this year would be safety, freedom and well-being for the people, which includes food safety, hygiene safety, national security and freedom of the media, as well as sound implementation of the pension reform and an improved economic environment,” he said.

The DPP is expected to work hard this year to bolster its connections with local communities in preparation for the local elections next year and this will include policy guidelines on local governance for DPP-governed cities and counties, said Lin Wan-i (林萬億), executive director of the DPP’s think tank.

While the think tank is not in charge of electoral affairs, it is conducting a study on all administrative zones in the nation to identify problems in governance and their potential as preparatory work for the elections, Lin said.

The think tank hoped to provide a set of policies, with some to be shared by all DPP-governed cities and counties and others to be tailor-made based on the characteristics and needs of the various zones for those cities, Lin said.

Non-DPP governed administrative zones would be divided into four groups according to the party’s chances of winning those constituencies, the director said.

For now, Greater Taichung, Changhua County, Nantou County, Penghu County and Chiayi City are considered “winnable” constituencies, Lin said.